


Serendipity

by syzygy_mellifluous



Series: Love During Lockdown [1]
Category: Frozen (Disney Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, First Meetings, Fluff, Mutual Attraction, Takes place during quarantine but covid specifically is not mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24027898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syzygy_mellifluous/pseuds/syzygy_mellifluous
Summary: Apparently, the best way to meet someone during a global pandemic is for their groceries to be delivered to the wrong address. Or, how Anna and Kristoff meet for the first time during a time of social distancing.
Relationships: Anna/Kristoff (Disney)
Series: Love During Lockdown [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760731
Comments: 2
Kudos: 35





	Serendipity

**Author's Note:**

> Ser·en·dip·i·ty (noun) - the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

“So, how are you liking living in Florida so far?” Anna asked as she plopped onto the couch beside her sister.

“I like spending time with you,” Elsa replied, skirting around the actual question.

Anna rolled her eyes. “You know that isn’t what I asked you.”

“Well…” she started, then paused. “It just seems so unnatural that it’s 93 degrees in _March_.”

Anna couldn’t help but laugh. “Just think of Australia - their summer is our winter and our summer is their winter, so it’s not that unnatural for it to be hot this time of year.”

“Yes, but your logic is flawed - if I recall correctly, Florida is hot for almost the entire year,” Elsa smirked. “I just prefer cold weather.”

“I don’t! No shoveling, sunny days - 

“Hurricanes.”

“You know as well as I do that there are hurricanes up north, too,” she responded with a glare.

Elsa shrugged, conceding. “I suppose you’re right.”

“I wish we weren’t quarantined. It’s Saturday, we could be at the beach. Or Disney World,” Anna pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Better to be safe than sorry.”

“I know, I know. It’s not a _bad_ thing to be stuck inside, but - ”

She was cut off by the doorbell ringing.

“Were you expecting company?” Elsa asked, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

“No,” Anna replied, sliding off the couch and maneuvering around the coffee table to get to the front door. “Social distancing, remember?”

Upon reaching the front door, she closed one eye and looked through the peephole. 

“No one’s there,” she remarked with a shrug. She unlocked the door, a blast of heat hitting her in the face, and lo and behold, a few bags of groceries sat on the floor in front of her door. “Oh crap, there are groceries here.”

Elsa quickly stood up and joined her at the door. “What do you mean? You didn’t order anything?”

“No,” she shook her head. “I bet they got delivered to the wrong apartment.”

She crouched down to look for a receipt or some kind of information about who the groceries _actually_ belonged to.

“Don’t touch anything!” Elsa exclaimed. 

“It’ll be fine, Elsa. I’ll wash my hands. I just need to find out who these belong to,” she said, as she started to dig through the bags. Unfortunately for her, there was no receipt. 

“What do we do?”

“I have no idea,” Anna shrugged. “I could take a walk around the area and see if someone is looking for groceries.”

“That’s a horrible idea - we should be staying _inside_. And you can’t just ask strangers if they’re missing groceries, anyone would jump at the opportunity for free stuff.”

“Well we can’t just let it sit out here, some of this stuff is supposed to stay frozen.” She stood up and hopped over the bags. “I’ll be right back; just wait here and see if someone comes looking for them.”

She didn’t wait for Elsa to respond, and instead made her way down to the bottom floor of her building. No one was there, so she stepped outside the protection of the breezeway and into the bright sunlight. No one was on the sidewalk in the area around her building, and she wasn’t sure if it was a bright idea to start looking in the other nearby buildings. So, she turned around and went back under the cover of the building. She went up to the second floor, and didn’t see anybody around there either. As she walked through the breezeway, glancing at the other apartments, she swore she heard a door close and footsteps. She raced up to the third floor, again seeing no one, and then finally reached the top floor, where she lived. A man was waiting near her door, staring at the bags that were sitting on the doormat in front of her apartment. 

“Hey,” she panted, wiping sweat off her brow. “Are those your groceries?”

“I think so,” he smiled. 

“Sorry, I’m a little winded from running around,” she explained, placing her hands on her knees and attempting to catch her breath. “I told my sister to wait for someone to come by while I went looking, but I guess she got too hot. I’m glad you found them, though.”

“Thanks for not stealing them,” he responded, gathering the bags in his hands. 

“Anytime,” she said, waving a hand, unable to actually get a good look at him. As soon as he turned away and headed down the stairs, she re-entered her apartment. 

“Did you -” Elsa started, but Anna cut her off.

“Yes, yes,” she answered, still breathing heavily. “The guy was waiting outside our door.”

“Sorry, I got too warm just standing there with the door open.”

Anna wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “How do you think I feel? I just ran around the entire building - and because there are no doors or windows, it’s practically outside and it’s _hot_.”

“Your face is really red,” Elsa pointed out.

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Anna remarked with an eye roll. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go take a shower.”

* * *

A few days later, Anna would find herself in a similar predicament. Wanting to avoid leaving her apartment, she decided to order groceries to her apartment. 

“I’m going to take a nap,” Elsa announced, closing her laptop and standing up.

“Okay, if you hear the doorbell ring, just ignore it. It’s just the groceries I ordered,” Anna explained. Elsa nodded and retreated to her temporary bedroom.

She put on the television while she waited, hoping to kill a little time. A short while later, she received a notification that her groceries had been delivered - but no one rang the doorbell or even bothered to knock on the door. Confused, she stood up and walked to the door. Sure enough, upon opening it, she discovered that her groceries hadn't been delivered - to her, at least. They were definitely delivered to someone, though; the person who delivered them had uploaded a picture to the app, but it was incredibly unhelpful as she couldn't tell where _exactly_ the groceries were. She suddenly felt frustrated, and quickly closed the door, ready to contact support from the website she ordered the groceries from. Before she could find their phone number, she swore she heard footsteps and opened the door again.

It was the man from a few days ago, carrying several bags of groceries. “Oh, uh, sorry. I think these are yours?”

“Did they get delivered to your apartment?” She wondered aloud. She was finally able to get a good look at him, unlike the other day, and jeez louise, was he attractive. Sandy blond hair, golden brown eyes, and the lightest dusting of freckles across his pale nose. He also had to be at least a foot taller than her, too, and she nearly found herself drooling over how good-looking he was. 

“Yeah, I ordered groceries too and thought it was weird when they got delivered earlier than they were supposed to - but there aren’t any ladies living in my apartment and I quickly realized they weren’t mine,” he remarked with a slight blush, placing the bags at her feet. 

Her own face turned red at the thought of her handsome neighbor discovering a box of tampons in what he thought were his groceries. “Well thank you for bringing them to me; I was just about to try and figure out where they were.”

“I think they’re getting the apartment numbers mixed up,” he concluded, pointing to the small plaque on the wall next to her door. “You’re in 403, and I’m right downstairs in 304.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” she agreed. “Thank you again, I really appreciate it.”

“Anytime,” he smiled, mimicking her sentiment from the other day. 

She smiled to herself and watched as he turned away and headed down the stairs, sneaking a single glance at her over his shoulder just as he moved out of her line of sight.

* * *

Nearly a month went by without another incident, but Anna secretly found herself wishing and hoping that there would be another mix-up and she’d have the opportunity to see her incredibly handsome neighbor again. She couldn’t believe that she’d lived in the building for nearly a year and had only just laid eyes upon the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen - during a time of quarantine and social distancing, nonetheless. 

She also worried that she was being a little ridiculous about the whole situation; she’d only met the guy _twice_ and they didn’t talk for long either time. But damn, she’d be lying if she said she didn’t dream about running her hands up and down his broad chest, or running her fingers through his hair. And then she’d remind herself that she didn’t even know his name, or anything about him, and, God, as awful as a global pandemic was, she _really_ hated that she had so much free time to dwell on her thoughts. She wished that her roommates had stuck around so she’d have someone to gossip about her feelings with - it was too awkward to talk about with her sister. 

The sisters had settled into a routine to avoid driving each other insane; they’d focus on their work during the day, or relax if it was the weekend, in the privacy of their own rooms, and at night they’d convene for a few hours to cook dinner or watch a movie together. It was business as usual for them on a Friday night in late April; sitting on the couch and having a drink, ready to spend a few hours together.

Anna looked down at the wine she was sipping and sighed. “I miss cocktails.”

“You can make those at home, you know,” Elsa pointed out. 

“I know, but I miss going to a bar and getting a cocktail. I guess I’m starting to really miss the outside world.”

Elsa nodded. “I agree, and I _never_ thought I’d miss leaving the house; I’m such a homebody.”

“I just wish this whole thing wasn’t happening,” she declared, shaking her head. “Anyway, what should we put on?”

They spent the next few minutes searching through titles on Netflix and finally agreed on something to watch. About fifteen minutes into the movie, a knock sounded out in the apartment.

“Did you hear that?” Elsa whispered, her eyes wide with panic.

“I think it was the front door,” Anna answered, placing her wine glass on the coffee table and standing up. She walked over to the front door and glanced out the peephole. “There’s no one there.”

“Here we go again,” Elsa groaned.

Anna swung open the door, and sure enough, a meal that they didn’t order had been delivered to their apartment. Her heart leapt with excitement, and she crouched down to get a better look at what had been delivered. She glanced at the receipt stapled to the bag and immediately became confused.

“Elsa, can you come read this?”

Elsa joined her in the doorway and glanced down at the receipt. “What am I missing?”

“This receipt has _our_ apartment number on it. Look, it says 403, right?”

Elsa squinted at the tiny sheet of paper. “I suppose it does. That’s strange. Maybe we should call the company that delivered it? I’m sure someone is awfully disappointed that their food hasn’t arrived.”

“I bet it was supposed to go to that guy downstairs,” she said, grabbing the bag in her hand and standing up. “I can bring it to him.”

“Anna, you don’t even know that it belongs to him!” 

“Well, I’m about to find out,” she retorted confidently, turning on her heel and walking towards the stairs.

“You’re not even wearing shoes!” Elsa called after her, stepping into the breezeway. 

“I have slippers on!” She yelled back, already halfway down the staircase. She heard her door close and grinned, as it meant that Elsa had given up. When she reached the third floor, she cautiously approached the apartment, and decided it would probably be better to place the food down in front of the door so she wouldn’t have to hand it directly to him. She did so, rang the doorbell and then took a few steps back. A moment later, the door opened. 

“Hey,” he smiled, leaning against the door frame. “What’s up?”

“I think your food got delivered to my apartment,” she said, motioning to the bag she’d placed on the welcome mat.

He glanced down and frowned. “I’m sorry, I don’t think this is ours.”

Her face fell at the revelation. “Oh, I thought -”

Just then, a shorter man with dark hair appeared in the doorway. “Cool, our food is here.”

“You ordered food and didn’t say anything?”

“Yeah, it was supposed to be a surprise,” he answered, bending down to scoop up the bag. As he turned back into the apartment, he patted his friend on the arm. “Happy birthday, man.”

The taller man groaned and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

“Happy birthday!” Anna exclaimed excitedly. 

“Thank you,” he blushed. “And thanks for bringing the food down here.”

“Of course!” She smiled. “And just a heads up, your friend accidentally put my apartment down on the order, so that’s why it was delivered to me instead of you.”

He blushed even harder and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “Sorry about that, he’s an idiot.”

“I can hear you!” Called a voice from inside the apartment and Anna couldn’t help but giggle.

“Well, I hope you enjoy the rest of your birthday,” she offered. “And I’m really sorry that you can’t go out and celebrate.”

“It’s all good, I probably would’ve been doing the same thing, honestly,” he shrugged.

“I’ll be really bummed if I have to celebrate my birthday in my apartment, and it's not even for another two months,” she stated, but decided to clarify. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll stay where I’m supposed to until it’s safe, but like, I’ll still be upset.”

He nodded in agreement. “Hopefully life will be different by then.”

“I really hope so,” she sighed. “Anyway, your food is probably getting cold, so I’ll stop talking so you can go eat.”

“Oh, okay,” he said, sounding slightly disappointed. “Thanks again.”

She gave him a small smile. “Anytime,” she promised, forcing herself to turn away and start heading up the stairs. 

“Hey,” he called out before she could reach the second step. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Anna,” she answered, turning back to face him.

“I’m Kristoff,” he grinned sheepishly. “Nice to formally meet you.”

“Third times the charm,” she joked. “I’d shake your hand, but y’know, germs.”

“Pity,” he mumbled.

“I mean, we totally could - if you wanted to - and I could just go wash my hands, but that would be bad social distancing, right? I haven’t come in contact with anybody who was sick, I think, so you wouldn’t have to worry about catching it from me; my sister and I haven’t even left the apartment in a month. But then again, I could be one of those people who got it but never had any symptoms, so maybe it would be a bad idea after all,” she spoke quickly, and when he chuckled in response, she blushed. “Sorry, I ramble a lot.”

“Don’t be sorry - it was actually really adorable,” he smirked. “I, personally, don’t care either way. It’s just my roommate and I here, and neither of us has left in a while, but a handshake would definitely be considered bad social distancing.”

Her heart fluttered a little when he called her rambling adorable; everyone else thought it was annoying. “No one would know but us, but I think it would be, like, morally wrong? If that makes sense.”

“I never would’ve thought I’d be having such a difficult conversation about a handshake,” he laughed.

There was a moment where neither of them spoke, until a brilliant idea popped into Anna’s mind. “How about a compromise?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”

“How about I give you my phone number so we can stay in touch until it’s socially acceptable to shake hands again?”

The corners of his mouth turned up. “Yeah. That would be great.”

She recited her number and he promptly typed it into his phone. “You’ll have to text me so I can get your number because I left my phone upstairs.”

“Easy enough,” he vowed.

“Now, I could stand out here and talk all day, but your dinner is definitely cold and my sister is probably having a conniption fit, so I should probably go now. But you can text me whenever, okay?”

He chuckled. “Okay,” he agreed with a nod.

“And try to enjoy the rest of your birthday,” she commanded.

“Thank you.”

She smiled one last time before finally turning around and jogging up the rest of the steps. She was absolutely giddy but was going to attempt to hide the fact that she wanted to jump up and down from excitement from her sister.

Elsa turned to look at her as soon as she opened the door, like a parent who had just caught their child sneaking in later than expected. “What took you so long?”

“We were just talking,” she answered coolly, locking the door behind her.

“Anna! That’s so dangerous!”

She walked around the coffee table, ignoring Elsa’s glare, and settled back into her spot on the couch. “It’s fine, I kept a safe distance.”

Elsa shook her head. “I hope we don’t get sick now. That was so reckless.”

“It’ll be fine,” she said, brushing her off and eagerly grabbing her phone to check for any new messages. When she saw that she had one, she smiled to herself. “It’ll all be fine.”

* * *

“Hey, Ryder, where did you put the food?” Kristoff asked as he made his way back into the apartment, sliding his phone into his pocket, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

He popped his head out of his bedroom door. “Yours is in the fridge, I already ate mine.”

“You seriously couldn’t wait for me?”

“I didn’t know how long you were going to stand there and awkwardly flirt with that girl, so no.”

“You’re incredible,” Kristoff grumbled.

“What? I still got you food!”

“Yeah, thanks for that. But I thought you ordered the food so we could eat together for my birthday.”

“Ohhhhh,” he chuckled. “No, you misunderstood.”

Kristoff shook his head. “I’m confused.”

“Your birthday gift was that I sent the food _upstairs_ instead of directly to us. The food is just a bonus.”

“You put the wrong apartment number intentionally?” He asked incredulously. 

“Duh,” Ryder remarked, rolling his eyes.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I got tired of hearing about the girl upstairs. ‘The girl upstairs is so pretty.’ ‘The girl upstairs this, the girl upstairs that,’” he said, in a tone mocking Kristoff’s voice. “You haven’t shut up about her since the first time you saw her, even though you literally said she was all sweaty and gross from running around outside. Like, I get it; you like her. But I’ve been hearing it for a month now - tell her that, not me.”

“First of all, I never said she was gross -”

Ryder cut him off. “It’s hotter than Satan's asshole out there; she was _definitely_ gross.”

“Second, read the room, dude! There’s a fucking pandemic going on, you can’t just jeopardize people’s health like that,” he snapped, then softened his voice before continuing. “Maybe I could’ve talked to her when all this stuff is over.” 

“I know you, man. You wouldn’t have done anything; you would’ve been all ‘oh I don’t want to bother her, she probably has a boyfriend’ and would’ve carried on being miserable or something.” Ryder rolled his eyes. “And if you weren’t going to make a move, then I was going to do it for you. Did you get her number this time?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “In fact, I already texted her.”

“See! My master plan worked. Now you can talk to the pretty girl instead of just daydreaming about her all day.”

“You’re a conniving bastard, you know that?” Kristoff joked, giving him a playful shove. 

Ryder gave him a huge grin. “Yeah, but you know you love me! Now go eat your dinner and text your pretty friend.”

Kristoff couldn’t help but smile to himself. What had started as a minor inconvenience had developed into something great - something serendipitous. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Honestly don’t know how I managed to write this if I’m being honest...but it’s inspired by true events. Over the course of the past few weeks, the wrong groceries/food orders have been delivered to my apartment repeatedly and it usually just causes chaos between my roommates and I as we try to figure out where they belong. This also has the possibility of being expanded upon. I hope you liked it!


End file.
